Palestinian resignation in the New York Times

Anne Boyer, poetry editor of the New York Times’ Sunday supplement, resigned after reacting to the newspaper’s reporting on Israel’s attacks on Gaza by saying, “No more warmongering lies.”

In his resignation letter posted on his personal page, Boyer stated: “Israel’s war against the people of Gaza, backed by the United States, benefits no one.” Noting that in this war there is no security for Israel, the United States, Europe and especially for the Jewish people, Boyer shared his opinion: “This war only serves the deadly profits of the oil and weapons producers.”

In his resignation letter, Boyer said: “The world, our future, our hearts are becoming smaller and harder because of this war. This is not just a war of missiles and land occupation. “This is a war against the Palestinian people, who have resisted occupation, forced displacement, deprivation, controls, sieges, imprisonment and torture for decades,” he said.

Highlighting that sometimes the most productive way for artists to protest is “rejection,” Boyer concluded his letter as follows:

“I cannot write poetry in ‘reasonable’ tones that attempt to accustom us to this climate of irrational suffering. No more disgusting euphemisms. No more hells purified with words. No more warmongering lies. “If this resignation leaves a poem-sized void in the news world, that is the true shape of the moment.” (AA)